The Process Of Grieving
by ZeeIsTrans
Summary: I realize I already have a multi-chapter fic going on, but this idea would not leave me. Summary: Jaune helps Qrow find the girls, and ends up finding something else less desirable as well. Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth and their wonderful existence. DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

He barely made it out of that wreckage, and he had no idea what even happened. He was on his way to Pyrrha and then he saw Ruby climb up on top of the building she was on. After that, there was nothing but white. He lost consciousness, and woke up in the wreckage of Beacon.

Jaune made his way toward the rescue ship, only to find it had been destroyed as well. He saw Qrow running towards the rubble that was left of the CCT Tower. Jaune ran towards him, desperate to see if Pyrrha and Ruby were okay.

"Qrow?" Jaune said, catching up with him.

Qrow turned around.

"You need to get out of here, kid." He demanded

"The rescue ship was destroyed, and I'm not leaving without Ruby or Pyrrha!" Jaune insisted. He couldn't just leave and not know if his friends survived or not.

"Fine, then follow me." Qrow continued to walk, Jaune following him.

When they got to the remains of the tower, Qrow spotted Ruby's scythe next to what used to be a door. He moved the door, and revealed an unconscious Ruby.

"Dammit, Ruby!" Qrow was angry. Why did she put herself in danger like this? She was only 15!

Qrow picked Ruby up and turned around to find Jaune staring at a pile of ash and a gold crown.

"Th-that's Pyrrha's crown." Jaune was at a loss for words. It couldn't be true. Pyrrha was too good of a fighter to be defeated. At least, he thought so.

Qrow sighed. He hadn't ever talked to Pyrrha, but Ruby mentioned her a few times. She seemed to mean a lot to her.

"I'm sorry. We should get out of her. Ruby's Dad is on the way here." Qrow advised Jaune, regretfully. He doubted Jaune would want to leave, but he needed to be brought to safety. The giant grimm dragon was frozen above them. Qrow knew how it happened, of course. It was Ruby's power.

"Okay." Jaune answered, simply. He didn't feel like talking.

"We have to find Yang." Qrow realized.

"The last place I saw her was at Beacon's landing area." Jaune said, picking up Pyrrha's crown and putting it in his bag.

Qrow nodded and they headed to their destination. Jaune immediately saw Yang in between two pieces of rubble. Her arm was bleeding, as it had been cut off.

"Oh my god, no." Qrow set Ruby down, gently, and ran to Yang. He crouched next to her and dug into his pockets, searching for some sort of cloth. Jaune walked over to them, and handed a medium-sized handkerchief to Qrow. He wrapped the handkerchief over Yang's wound, and looked over at Jaune.

"You gotta carry her." He told Jaune.

Jaune nodded and bent over to pick up Yang. He grunted as he lifted the blonde, and looked at Qrow.

"It's alright, I got ya, kiddo. I got ya." Qrow whispered, picking up Ruby again. Taiyang's airship arrived, and the two men walked toward it. Taiyang saw Ruby and Yang in their arms, and his heart sped up. His girls were injured, and he didn't get to Beacon fast enough, so by default it was his fault, as their father.

Qrow and Jaune reached the airship, and they flew back to Patch. Qrow showed Jaune where he could stay until he got ahold of his parents.

Qrow and Taiyang stood next to Ruby's bed.

"We have to try to communicate with the other kingdoms." Taiyang tuned the radio next to Ruby's bed, trying to find a signal. It was just static, no matter what channel he went to.

Taiyang sighed.

"Nothing." He sat in a chair behind him.

"Just turn it off. Without the CCT, there's no point." Qrow rubbed his face with both of his hands.

"Communication down across the entire kingdom, no way to contact the outside world...and Ozpin's still missing." Taiyang stated.

"Yeah." Qrow didn't really have any other answer. Beacon was destroyed, and the rest of Ruby's friends were nowhere to be found. This was _not_ good.

"This is bad, Qrow." Taiyang read Qrow's mind, it seemed.

"Yeah. This is bad." Qrow agreed. He had no idea what to do. There wasn't much he _could_ do.

"I'm going for a walk. Watch the girls, and check on Jaune." There was only so much Tai could take. He needed to get away for a little while. Tai left the room, and Qrow followed him, going towards Jaune's temporary room.

He knocked on the door, not sure what good he could do. He didn't really know Jaune. Ruby had spoken of him fondly before, but he'd never actually talked to Jaune.

"Hey kid, can I come in?" Qrow asked, after not hearing an answer. Jaune still didn't say anything from inside the room, and Qrow started to worry. He opened the door and sighed at what he saw.

 **Ooo cliffhanger!**

 **Don't worry, I'd never kill Jaune.**

 **Or would I?**

 **You'll have to find out tomorrow.**


	2. Chapter 2

Jaune was laying on his side, staring at Pyrrha's crown that he'd put on a table across from him. Tears were still running down his cheeks, but he was silent.

"It was my fault." Jaune said, looking at Qrow.

Qrow fully walked inside the room, closing the door behind him.

"Why would _her_ death be _your_ fault?" Qrow asked. He couldn't say it wasn't his fault, because he wasn't there when Pyrrha was killed.

"I couldn't stop her from fighting that woman. I could have stopped her. I could have!" Jaune balled his hands into fists in front of his face.

Qrow swallowed. "It wasn't her choice to fight Cinder. There wasn't anything you could have done."

Jaune sat up, leaning against the bed's headboard. There _was_ something he could have done. He could have persuaded Pyrrha not to fight. If he wasn't so bad at talking to people, he could have done it. It was his fault. Jaune glared at Qrow. he didn't know what he was talking about. He wasn't there when Pyrrha left.

"Don't say that! I could have done something. It is my fault." Jaune let out a sob after speaking.

"Listen here, Jaune. I wasn't there, so I can't say much without it sounding like bullshit, but what I can say is that no one will blame you for not stopping Pyrrha." Qrow said, sitting next to Jaune.

Jaune didn't know Qrow, but he moved closer, anyway. He craved some sort of affection. It would've been more comfortable if it was Pyrrha. Unfortunately, that was never going to happen again. Jaune would never be able to feel the comforting presence of Pyrrha again. She was gone, now.

"What am I supposed to do? I don't even know where Ren and Nora are." Jaune despaired.

"We'll find 'em. Don't worry." Qrow soothed. Maybe this _was_ helping.

"I have to go check on Yang. It'll be alright, don't worry." Qrow got up, and Jaune went back to laying on his side.

Yang was asleep, a proper bandage on her arm. Or, what was left of it. She was still in her normal clothes, which Qrow thought was probably not very comfortable for her. Qrow carefully changed his niece into sweatpants and a T-shirt. Hopefully, when she woke up, she'd feel more comfortable than she would have if she were still in her combat clothes. Qrow felt so useless. Anything he could do to help anything was what he wanted to do. Both of his nieces were injured, and there was nothing he could do to help them right now.

He took out his flask as he sat down in a chair next to Yang's bed. Alcohol was the only thing keeping him calm, so he drank.

Jaune was sitting on the edge of his bed, self-loathing thoughts running through his head.

 _You could have saved her._

The thought repeated over and over inside of his mind. The repetition pushed him farther and farther into rage.

 _You could have saved her._

Jaune yelled, throwing his arm out in front of him and managing to knock over the lamp on his nightstand. He stood up and pushed over the nightstand altogether. He didn't care that it wasn't even his room. The rage was in control, and there was no stopping any time soon. Jaune yelled again, and punched the wall, creating a hole. The only thing stopping him injuring himself was his aura.

As Jaune was about to repeat the action, he felt a hand gripping his arm, tightly.

"Tai probably won't be too happy when he gets back, so you better stop." Qrow said, calmly. He let go of Jaune's arm and stepped back.

"I...I'm sorry." Jaune's conscience returned to normal. He sat back down on the bed, and put his face in his hands. His body shook with sobs.

Qrow didn't know if he should comfort him or not. It worked earlier, so hopefully it would work now. Qrow sat next to Jaune, rubbing his back, lightly. It was awkward, but he felt bad for Jaune, and he couldn't just leave him alone.

"She loved me, and I never even noticed." Jaune said, sniffling.

Qrow was about to say something, but heard a scream from the other room. It was Yang. Both Qrow and Jaune ran to her room, and saw that Yang was awake, and she was staring at her arm. She noticed they were there, and looked over at them.

"Jaune? What are you doing here?" She asked. Jaune stepped forward.

"The CCT Tower's destroyed. There's no way to talk to my parents." He said, still reeling from his breakdown. Yang nodded and turned back to the window next to her bed. Qrow turned to look at Jaune.

"Can you leave for a minute?" He hoped while he was alone, he wouldn't break anything. He was serious when he said Taiyang would be mad. Jaune stepped out of the room, making sure to close the door. He didn't trust himself to not be angry, and he didn't want Qrow to experience his anger again.

"Do you know where your other friends are?" Qrow asked, and Yang looked back at him.

"Blake ran away, and Weiss' father brought her home. At least, I'm pretty sure. He completely ignored me, and just brought Weiss with him." Yang complained. She was bleeding out, while that man just ignored her. All he cared about was getting _Weiss_ to safety.

"What about the other two?" Qrow asked.

"I wasn't conscious enough to know." Yang sighed, and continued looking out the window.

"Thank you for telling me. You 'oughta get some rest. It's...been a rough day." Qrow took a long sip out his flask, and walked out of Yang's room. Taiyang came through the front door, looking a bit more composed than when he had left.

"What do we do, Tai?" Qrow immediately asked. He really hoped 'waiting' wasn't the answer. That was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

"I don't know. All we can do is wait, really." Taiyang replied. Qrow was starting to consider that the man really _could_ read his mind.

 **This is currrently all I've written, so considering it's me and my writer's block is terrible, the next chapter probably won't be out for awhile.**


End file.
